The Closet
by the4thlorelai
Summary: Literati and a TINY bit of JJ. Takes place after the Logan and Rory fight in 6.08. Rory and Jess connect all over again. Can they stay together while dealing with major life events, heartbreak, and tradgedy? Read and see!
1. Explain

**_A/N: Remember that horrible habit that I have of starting stories and not finishing? Yup, it's happened again, but I had to write this and since I had the inspiration, I've been too busy to continue with my other stories, but I'll try to eventually. Anyway, this takes place after the fight in Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out. I promise I'll stick with this one. I've already written a lot of it, and it's caught my interest. Hopefully it catches yours too..._**

**_Disclaimer: Everything except the plot of this story comes from the mind of Amy Sherman-Palladino. _**

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Logan hovered over her like he was 50 feet tall and she was a midget. His face was redder than the kite she and Lorelai had taken out to the gazebo once when she was 5 years old. It had gotten caught in the tree nearby and no one could get it out for a week. Logan's face was redder than Taylor's had been when he saw the kite.  
Rory chuckled at this memory. The pleasant thought was suddenly interrupted, though, by Logan's sharp words.

"Why don't you go off with Jack or whatever his name is!"

Rory expected these words to sting. They should've left a mark, an imprint, a painful impression...but they didn't. She hesitatged, but after a few seconds, her blunt words are the ones that left an impression on him.

"Fine, I will."

He watched her walk out of the bar. And at that point, Logan refreated everything. No, he cuoldn't help who he was and his lifestyle. He couldn't stop being himself. But he should've been the one to let her leave an impression on him,k not the other way around. He should've said something that night at the bar when Rory told him she could be just as lazy as him. He didn't want her to be, though. She wasn't Rory if she wasn't at Yale. It was his fault. It was all his fault. He didn't run after her, though. Instead, he slipped back into the booth and grabbed his can of beer.

"Jess, please! Wait! "Rory called after the shadowy figure who was walking briskly to his car.

"Jess!" she yelled again when the figure didn't respond.

"What? What is it, Rory?" Jess yelled, turning around quite suddenly.

"Please let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain."

"There is!"

"This wasn't your fault."

"Logan was drunk. He wasn't feeling well. There's this thing with his dad. He had to go to Omaha, and-"

"I don't care!"

"I'm just trying to explain."

Jess's eyes got bigger. "Explain? Really? Go ahead, then. Explain why you dropped out of Yale."

"I didn't drop out!" Rory screamed. "I took a break!"

"Explain why you're living with your grandparents, why you're planning parties when you could be studying, why I came back here looking for the girl I fell in love with and I can't find her!"

Rory's heart melted into a puddle of nothing. She was angry, yes, but Jess was right. Everything he'd said, everything. But the last thing he said is what really stuck.

"Is that why you came back here? Because I'm over you, Jess. I can't love the guy who broke my heart over and over again."

"I'm not asking you too." Jess had calmed down relatively. Rory glanced up from the parking lot pavement to Jess's face. He wasn't angry...he was hurt. She'd never seen him hurt before.

"I'm...I'm sorry", she managed to get out.

"Don't be."

"Okay."

"Need a ride?"

"Yes, please."

Jess motioned for Rory to get in the car. She smiled weakly and climbed inside.

Dead silence. A twenty minute ride from the bar to the Gilmore mansion probably shouldn't have been nervewracking. It shouldn't have made both Jess and Rory feel like they could throw up any time...but it did.

Even so, Jess kept his composure. Rory, on the other hand, had her head in her hands. Once in a while, Jess would glance in Rory's direction and sigh to himself. When the car finally pulled into the driveway, neither Rory nor Jess moved a muscle. Almost a minute passed before Rory opened the door a crack.

"Guess I should go in", she said softly. She opened the door the rest of the way and stuck her right foot out. Before she could put her right foot out. Before she could put her left foot down next to it, Jess spoke up.

"Wait."

Rory hesitated and turned around.

"What?"

"We never really got to catch up."

"I guess we didn't."

"Can I come in, then?"

"Well.."

"You said your grandparents aren't home."

"Right."

"And by the looks of the house, they're still not home."

Rory looked up towards her grandparents' giant arched window. The lights were off, as they were in the entire house, and there was no sign of movement. She smiled at Jess and said, "Kay...let's go."

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_**Hope you liked it...if not, I don't blame you. The next few chapters get better, but I had to stat somewhere. Please review! **_

_**Next up:**__**  
Old wounds between Rory and Jessopen up again, but the result is bittersweet. **_


	2. Love

As they walked up the driveway to the solid wood font door, they were both in deep thought. Rory thought about what was going to happen, why Jess had wanted to come in, and why she'd said yes.

She led Jess up the dimly lit staircase. "My room's this way."

"I know", he responded shyly.

"Oh, right. You were here earlier."

"Yeah." This was the Rory he knew. The apprehensive, jumbled, but brilliantly amazing Rory.

They walked inside her room. Jess picked up the pillow they'd left on the floor from earlier. "We still need this?"

Rory blushed. "I think we're good."

They sat on her bed. More silence. Jess wasn't a fan of silence.

"You, uh...you never answered my questions before", he said.

"Jess, come on."

"Please, I'm not looking to fight. I just need to know what happened. What happened with you and your mom?"

"How did you-"

"Luke's got a bigger mouth than you'd think."

"I never would've guessed."

"So, what's happening there?"

"I don't know."

"Rory."

"I Just know she has something against Logan. That's what started this."

"Started what?"

"It's like a rift, a hiatus."

"That sucks."

"Completely." Rory was staring at her palms. "But why does it matter to you? You always hated my mom."

"And she always hated me, but I don't hate you, and I don't want to see you upset."

"Right, right. Rumor has it you love me. You love me so much that you wanted me to go somewhere away from here with you."

Jess sighed. He puffed out his cheeks and let the air deflate slowly. "That was a long time ago, Rory."

Rory's eyes were shimmering. Jess stared at them for a very long time before he realized that they were wet with tears in the corners of her eyes.She smiled, though, trying to hide the tears. After a minute, though, her smileturned into an odd lopsided frown.

"So, you...you don't love me anymore?"

Jess could feel a drop of sweat roll down his forehead. The walls of the room that was so small to behin with seemed to be cosing in on him. His words were choked - quiet and timid.

"I uh..I still...I still love you."

Rory's responsewas just as quiet, if not quieter. "Oh."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Jess's hands covered his mouth. How could he have let those words escape?

"Don't apologize", Rory said, lifting her head. She was smiling for real now.

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I think I still love you, too."

"You said you were over me."

"I could never be over you, Jess."

"What about Logan?"

"What about him?"

"Don't think he'd be concerned that you're up here with your ex-boyfriend all alone?"

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"I hate that word."

"Me too."

Rory was gradually inching closer to Jess. He pretended he didn't notice, but his mind was raging with thoughts. Thoughts of disbelief, thoughts of happiness, thoughts of sadness. Sad memories, painful memories.

"Why did you come back?" Rory pressed on.

"I missed you", he replied.

Within minutes, Rory had Jess's clothes off. Jess had Rory's clothes off. The lights were dimmed. The mood was set. The time was right.

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**_Right, so the ending of that was pretty stupid. I'm not actually going to go into detail, so I figured this is the best way to describe it in so many words. Please review! _**


	3. Escape

**_A/N: Thanks for your reviews and especially the criticism. I'll say it again, though- the first few chapters aren't nearly as good as they will be when the story gets more in-depth...I'm working on the build-up, but it'll get more interesting. _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything except for the plot of this storyoriginated in the mind of Amy Sherman-Palladino. _**

* * *

As they passionately kissed, their bodies tossed on the bed in a horizontal position, those thoughts were gone, at least for the moment. This priceless moment.

But he knew the moment wouldn't last long. She knew it was too good to be true. A sound erupted in the room and both heads shot up. The knock on the door was followed by a voice horribly familiar to Rory.

"Rory? Why are you home so late?" The doorknob twisted a little to the right, then to the left. Rory had locked the door.

"Rory! Open this door immediately, young lady!"

Jess gave Rory a worried look. She returned it.

"I knew we should've used the pillow!" Jess whispered

"Hide!" Rory whispered, louder. "One second, Grandma! I'm changing!"

"What?" Jess asked, panicked.

"You have to hide somewhere. Um, climb out the window, maybe."

"Sorry...no!"

"The closet!"

"That thing's smaller than the closet was at Luke's place before he expanded it!"

"Well, I never saw the closet before he expanded it...or after, so I don't have anything to compare it to. Now, get in!"

He shook his head, rolled his eyes, and let Rory shove him into the miniscule closet.

"What's that voice? I heard a voice." Emily was getting louder and louder and angrier and angrier.

"It's me, Grandma."

"Why are you talking to yourself?"

"I wasn't. I was singing with the radio."

"I didn't hear singing, I heard talking, and I didn't hear music, I heard a man's voice!"

"You might want to get that checked out. Okay, all changed."

She walked toward the door to open it, but the doorknob twisted all the way before she even got there. Rory stared at Emily holding a wrench and set of keys.

"Grandma, what-"

"There are the keys to the room and the wrench was in case I had to take the door down myself. I learned how to do that livign with your mother for 16 years. Now step aside."

Emily pushed Rory to the side and made her way to the window.

"What are you doing?"

"You're not hiding someone in here, are you?" Emily reached her head out the window. She lookedto both the right and the left.

"Of course not", Rory responded.

Emily closed the window and walked toward the closet. Rory's heart pounded. She couldn't think of anything that might distract her grandmother, but someone must've been watching over her, because just then, loud footsteps boomed though the hallway. They belonged to Richard.

"Emily, what's all the commotion?"

Richard appeared at the door and Emily broke her path to the closet. Rory let out a huge deep breath filled with relief.

"What are you doing up?" Emily asked.

"I heard a noise", replied Richard.

"Go back to sleep, Richard."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll go, too. Come on." She eyed Rory and led Richard back to their bedroom. Rory ran to the closet. When she opened the door, Jess was nowhere in sight.

Shocked, she sleeted down the staircase and to the front door. Jess's car was still in the driveway. So were Emily, Richard, 2 cops, and a police car. Rory inched closer.

"I just don't understand how there's someone in the house that you can't find. You can only look so many places", one of the officers said.

"Yeah, but it's a big house, Cal", the other cop replied.

Emily was clearly annoyed. "Just get in there and look!"

"Don't forget to look in the gardens, too, boys", Richard said.

The cops walked through the front entrance, forcing Rory to move to the side. This way, Emily and Richard noticed Rory's presence.

Emily smiled an evil smile. "Hello, Rory!"

"What's going on?"

"There seems to be a late night prowler who decided to sneek around the house."

"Grandma-"

"Don't worry, though! Calvin and Raymond are the top cops in the union. They just happened to be patroling the neighborhood when we noticed this car here and we stopped them. Funny coincidence, huh?"

"Funny, right."

"We'll have the guy arrested and everything will be fine."

"That's...great."

"We have the name of the person, too. JessMariano. The idiot left his driver's liscense on his windshield."

"Excuse me, please."

Rory ran back up the staircase and into her room. She was gasping for a breath of air by the time she opened the closet. She sighed and got down on her knees. She'd remembered the way out of the house Lorelai had told her years and years ago. There was a shelf in the closet, the lowest one, that could be removed. There, there was a small crawl space that led to a huge maze of passageways. If you took a left at the first turn anda right at the second, you'd land behind the wall of the living room, where there was loose paneling - Lorelai had loosened it herself.

She reached for the shelf, which Jess had put back quite carelessly.

When Rory reached the loose paneling, her jeans were covered in something brown and disgusting. Her hair was aloof and she was sweating insanely. What had Lorelai been thinking? Was life here really that bad? Rory thought back to the past few months. Yeah, it was really that bad.

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**_Probably a weird place to stop, but what the heck. The next chapter is pretty drama-filled. Please review! _**


	4. Arrested

**A/N: Midterms are FINALLY over! Once again, thanks for all the reviews. The downside to midterms: no updates. The upside: tons of downtime in between tests. I got to work on this story a LOT! Expect updates much more often now. **

She wasn't sure how she would get past the wall. The paneling was loose, but wasn't panel attached to the wall? So wasn't that really more of a decorating flaw than an escape? But then she spotted a place in the wall that wasn't the perfect blue as the rest was. It was one patch of white, probably peeled off, and written in black Sharpie were the words, 'Cause I want you. 'Cause I need you. 'Cause I can't deny it anymore. I'm nothing without you. Chris and Lorelai '83.

Rory set aside her anger towards her father for everything he'd done to her mother and put herself in a deep state of thought. Those words meant something to her, but she didn't know what or why. And then it hit her…Jess.

She looked up at the words again before she resumed searching for a way out. Finally, a spot in the wall where one part was shorter than the other stood out. In this place where she could barely sit without hitting her head let alone stand, she crawled over to that spot. There was a crack in the wall that Rory noticed with the sound of two voices. She peeped through the crack. What she saw made her heart skip a beat, not in a good way.

"Cuff him!" one cop shouted.

The other cop reached for the handcuffs in his back pocket. By this point, Rory was leaning into the wall so much to see Jess, whose hands were being restrained by a police officer who looked extremely familiar, that her body eventually build up to more pressure than the wall could withstand. As Rory came crashing through the wall, the cops were distracted enough to look up and let go of Jess's hands. Jess looked up to Rory, who was mouthing the words, "Car, now."

He nodded and ran out of the room, not bothering to look back at Rory, whom the cops ran over to, handcuffs ready, not realizing she lived there until the dust from the remnants of the wall cleared away.

"Ow!" she screamed as a cuff slammed shut around one of her wrists.

"Cal! That's the Gilmore kid! Take the cuff off."

Just then, Emily happened to be passing through the connecting room when Rory caught her eye.

"What on Earth are you doing?" she yelled.

"Hey Grandma."

"Calvin, Raymond, let go of her at once!"

The men released their grip. Rory began walking towards the vestibule to talk to Jess, but, and not to her surprise, Emily blocked the route.

"What happened to my wall, young lady?"

"I don't know Grandma."  
"It just magically exploded into a million pieces, then?"

"Guess so."

"I want you to go upstairs right now and think about this!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I have something to take care of."

She gave Emily an angry glance and walked past her.

"Rory!" Emily called out, but the front door had already slammed shut.

The air was crisp, cooler than it had been only 30 minutes ago. Rory brought her sweater closer to her face. She saw Jess's car still parked in the driveway and ran to it.

"I'm sorry, I'm just…I'm really sorry", she said as she climbed into the warm car.

"Look at all that can happen in one night", he responded still making no eye contact with her.

"Why'd you climb through the crawl space? You could've just stayed in the closet."

"I didn't want to get you in trouble."

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you go in after me?"

"I didn't want you to get arrested."

"Oh. Right."

"It was good seeing you again, Rory."

He looked over at her, but she wasn't looking at him. Her face was frozen; her eyes were glued to the windshield.

"Rory?"

"Wait. I'll, uh…I'll come too."

"What?"

"Is that offer to go away with you still good?"

"It's more than good."

The outline of two men and a woman pointing her finger at the front door appeared in the living room window.

Rory screamed, "Jess, go!" and the car sped off into the night just as the door opened. Rory peered out the car's back window to see Emily's angry face, fists clenched. She smiled.


	5. Heartbreak

**A/N: Sorry this update's so short. It's fast though, there's a plus, right? Review, please!**

They'd been driving for 2 hours now, and still there was no sign that they'd get where they were going in this lifetime - wherever they were going. For a little while, at least, they had talked, laughed, and played the license plate game, but now no one had said anything for what seemed like centuries.

What broke the silence, however, was much worse, horribly dreaded, but all the while expected. Rory's cell phone rang to the tune of Yellow Submarine and Jess laughed.

"Good song", he said.

"Thank you", was Rory's sarcastic reply.

"But her face froze again when she looked down at the caller ID. No, she didn't want to answer, but if she didn't, Jess might wonder why.

Reluctantly, she flipped her phone open extra fast, hoping maybe it would break in half.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are we still mad at each other?" Logan asked.

"Yes", Rory said bluntly. She closed the phone.

Jess gave her a weird look, but he didn't say anything. Rory hoped and prayed that Logan wouldn't call back, but no luck.

"Hello?" she said again.

"Rory, come on", Logan pleaded quite desperately.

"Come on, what? I'm sick of you and the things you do, Logan!"

Jess's eyebrows perked up now.

"What things?" Logan demanded.

"Getting drunk everyday…"

"It's not everyday, is it Ace?"

"Calling me Ace! I have a name, you know!"

"I thought you liked that."

"How do you know? Did I tell you I liked that?"

"No…"

"And why is it that I avoided parties until I met you? I hated parties and then suddenly they became my life."

"That's who I am. You becoming a party girl is not my fault!"

"Whatever! We've had this fight before. I don't want to have it again! I don't even want to hear your voice at a normal level let alone screaming again! Good bye!"

She hung up the phone. The tears were already welling up around her eyes. Before they started rolling down her cheeks, Jess's warm embrace filled her heart with something she'd only felt three times before - with Dean, with Jess when he left for California, and most recently with Logan. But with Logan, that feeling had faded a very long time ago…but she realized now with Jess, it was always there. It had never faded. She was in love with Jess. She was always in love with Jess. She'd always be in love with Jess.

Her tears began to sink into the sleeve of Jess's shirt, where her face was buried. The red light changed, but Jess pulled over. Rory cried on, and even though Jess was thinking "He's not worth her tears", he let her soak his shirt all the way through.


	6. Atlanta

**A/N: Okay, I suck. That's all there is to say. I'm SO SORRY for the lack of an update for so long agaaaain! Thanks for the reviews, you guys are fantastic. **

They arrived at no set destination hours later: Atlanta, Georgia. It hadn't been planned only because there wasn't really anything exciting in Georgia, but Jess happened to drive past a hotel identical to the Simpson's house and they had no choice.

"What's here, anyway?" Rory had asked when they passed the "Welcome to Georgia" sign

"That!" Jess replied, pointing to the hotel.

"Whoa."

They stumbled into the hotel practically falling, because Jess was playfully pushing Rory around. A tall woman with a pile of something blue on her head, most likely either a mop or hair, yellow face paint, and a green dress was standing at the desk.

"Can I help you?" She asked when Rory and Jess approached her wide-eyed.

"We need a room."

Jess gave her all of his credit card information and then he and Rory headed upstairs.

"That was weird", Rory whispered as they walked up the stairs.

"It's only truly weird if she thinks she really is Marge Simpson."

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised."

Rory took out the key "Marge" had given her downstairs and opened the door to room 7. Lucky number 7.

They both looked around for a few minutes. The suite was spacious and beautiful. There was a kitchen, a bathroom with two sinks, a giant television, a porch, and two twin beds. Jess looked down at one of the beds and then at Rory.

"No, this just isn't going to work", he said smiling wide.

Rory nodded, and also smiling, walked to the other side of one of the beds and pushed it so it collided into the other one, almost knocking Jess over.

"You're strong", he said.

"I can lift a cereal box."

"So", Jess said, "What do you want to do?"

Rory bit her lip and blushed, still smiling her irresistible Rory smile.

"Dunno", she replied softly.

"Huh. Funny; neither do I", Jess was over her now. He reached to take Rory's shirt off, but she grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Jess, come on."

He paused for a second and lifted himself off of Rory.

"Why?"

"Don't you think we should take about this first? I don't want to have sex with you if I can't count on you."

Jess's face was full of an unidentifiable emotion.

"And why can't you count on me?"

"Because I loved you and you just left. You did it twice."

"But that was so I wouldn't hurt you."  
"I know."

"I don't see the problem."

"I just- I just need to know…"

"What is it?"

"You're not going to leave me again, are you?"

"No." Jess said this firmly and Rory knew he was serious.

**A/N: Yes, I know - SHORT! One of the shortest chapters in the entire story...chapter 7's about the same length, but I'll put that up tomorrow. Chapter 8's much much much longer!**

**Please review! **


	7. Pink

They woke up at around 5 PM. Rory rolled over and looked at the clock. She then rolled back and shook Jess until he woke up, too. Because she hasn't brushed her teeth since early that morning, she pointed at the clock, rather than telling him the time.

"So, what?" He said crankily.

"I hate being jetlagged."

"Connecticut's in the same time zone as Georgia!" Jess laughed.

"Are you sure? I've been sleeping since 4 AM, but the day's felt like the longest of my life."

"That makes no sense."

"Could be because of the massive amounts of champagne and tequila we were drinking", Rory said sarcastically.

"I'd say it's most likely. Where'd you learn to drink like that? It's insane!"

Rory shot him a painful glare.

"Ah. Got it. Okay, so, guess what's inside the night stand I bumped into on the way to the bathroom last night?"

"What?"

"The Rough Guide to Atlanta."

"No way! I didn't even know they made them for specific cities."

"I think the hotel crossed out Europe and wrote Atlanta then whited out the printed words and wrote in their own."

"Very nice."  
"Quality place we're staying at, here."

"Oh, yeah. Beats Budget Host by a long shot, though. So, how long do you think we'll stay here?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If we can get a steady job so we can buy a house or rent an apartment."

"What if we don't like living here?"

"I guess, then…we go somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Wherever."

"So we're being spontaneous?"

"Yep."

"I like spontaneity."

She rolled all the way out of bed-literally.

"Nice", Jess laughed.

"Thank you."

They left the hotel without even bothering to look at the make-shift guide book.

Jess stopped the car when they reached a street that seemed to be filled with tons of stores and "Help Wanted" posters as far as the eye could see.

After 10 minutes of searching for parking, Jess pulled over and double-parked, letting the engine run while Rory went into a salon across the street.

"May I help you?" a peppy saleslady asked Rory when she walked inside. Rory looked around. There were glittery pink walls, hot pink floors…pink, pink, pink! She smiled to herself before looking to the woman at the desk who was waiting for her response. Blonde hair, blue eyes…it was Honor Huntzburger.

**A/N: Wow, yep. Weird place to end a chapter. This was completely filler, I'm sorry. It doesn't affect the plot too much, but next chapter's going to be good for anyone mildly interested in this story. **

_**Next up: Rory freaks out and winds up thinking about everything that's happened in detail. She needs someone to talk to. The phone call she makes could change her future with Jess. **_


	8. Choose

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, really. I love getting home from a day at school similar to Rory's first day at Chilton and opening an inbox full of amazing reviews. So, I hate long author's notes, too, so here it goes…**

When Rory's face practically smashed itself into the window of the locked car door, Jess turned down the XTC CD and opened the door for her.

"Rory, what happened?" he asked, concerned.

"Can we go, please?" Her words were short. She gasped for air in between syllables. Why had the sight of her ex-boyfriend's sister brought her to such a state? Why was Rory so shaken up? Logan didn't mean anything to her anymore, right? It was Jess.

Jess knew she was fighting back tears, but questioning her would only upset her more. He hit the gas pedal and they were off.

Rory had been in the bathroom for two and a half hours. Jess stood at the door listening for signs of life inside. Every so often, a whimper would come through the door - it was better than the shrieks and crying fits Rory didn't think Jess could hear about an hour ago.

Twenty minutes later, when there was no sign that Rory would ever come out, Jess lied down horizontally across the crack where the two twin beds pushed together met. Because he was asleep in five minutes, he didn't hear the phone call that would've changed the past days' events drastically if it'd occurred earlier.

"Hello?" Lorelai's perky and obviously coffee-quenched voice said.

Rory's next word was soft, blurred, and completely unrecognizable to anyone normal. "Hi."

"Rory?"

"Yeah. Uh, hey Mom."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."  
"Why are you calling?"

"To talk."

"To me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I…I missed you."

"You did?"

"Of course."

"I missed you, too, kid."

"I'm glad."

"So…what's up?"

The bathroom door woke Jess up almost 3 hours after he'd fallen asleep. Rory had emerged with luggage…and a smile.

"Rory-"

"Hey, Sleepyhead."

"What's with the bags?"

"You're not going to believe this!"

"Is it good or bad?"

"Ready?"

"Yes, tell me!"

Rory made some kind of incomprehensible noise.

"What was that?"

"That was a drum roll!"

"Sounded more like a sick goat or a helicopter."

"We're going back to Stars Hollow!" she announced.

"Excuse me?"

"I made up with my mom! I can go back home and live with her now."

Jess was silent for almost a whole minute while Rory looked at him eagerly.

"And forget about the past day and a half?" he asked angrily.

"Of course not!" Rory was stunned.

"Then what?"

"Well, you could come with me."

"To live at your mom's?"

"Well, you could live with Luke."

"Oh my God, you ARE serious!"

"Of course!"

"Rory, I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"You know why. All that's happened…"

"I can't believe you're forcing me to choose between you and my mother!"

"I thought you said you loved me."

"Yeah, well, I love my mom, too."

"More than me?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Answer me."

"Let's see. Some guy or the woman who carried me around in her stomach for nine months, underwent judgment and exile, and abandoned her own parents for most of my life all for me? Hard choice."

"That's all I am? Some guy?"

"Jess, I didn't mean-"

"So when you agreed to come with me away someplace new and exciting…"

"And ended up in Atlanta!" she interrupted.

"You were only doing it to escape from your problems with your mom? To get away from your grandma?"

"No! I-"

"Then I'm leaving too, to get away from YOU!"

"He slammed the door shut and left a teardrop to trickle down Rory's still stained cheek."

**A/N: ** **Just don't hate me, and please review. **

**Next up: The setting changed from Georgia to Stars Hollow, Connecticut, where Lorelai enters our story and someone else re-enters. **


	9. Déjà Vu

**A/N: 2 important things:**

**1) The next few chapters may seem like the opposite of a Lit, but I'm only causing drama, you'll see. **

**2) In a couple of chapters, this story is going to head in a tiny bit of a JavaJunkie direction. I know I should've put that in the description, but I had no idea when I started. I'm very VERY sorry to anyone who doesn't like L/L. It's only a little thing and it won't become a major part of the story. It was important for the R/J storyline. You'll see. Sorry again, but for now…**

Lorelai's hands were starting to numb from the cold. She'd been standing on the porch for a half hour now. It wasn't like Rory to be late for anything. Finally, though, a cab pulled into the driveway, picking up dirt-filled dust clouds as it drove.

After Rory retrieved a suitcase and a tote bag from the trunk and paid the driver, the cab sped off. The dust clouds cleared seconds later, giving Lorelai a perfect view of her perfect daughter. She ran to greet her, something she hasn't been able to do in quote a while. They wrapped their arms around each other. Lorelai was crying tears of joy; Rory was just crying.

"I missed you, kid. I missed you so much."

"I love you!" Those words were natural to say to Jess, too, but which did she love more? It sure wasn't the one who'd made her choose in the first place.

When the hug finally subsided, both Lorelais smiled. For Lorelai, it was the force of happiness that her daughter was back in her life, but for Rory it was the feeling of trying to juggle being ecstatic with being distraught.

"What now?" Lorelai asked, giddy.

"Quadruple feature weekend?"

"I'll go to Doose's."

"And I'll get the movies!"

"Pick something good!"

"You taught me everything I know, Mom."

"Yet you'll still come back with some Lifetime movie."

"No!"

"Just because it has someone famous who hasn't had work in over four years."

"I wouldn't do that…besides, they don't make any of the good ones on DVD yet."

Rory turned and started walking in the direction of the Stars Hollow Video Store.

"Freak!" Lorelai called after her.

"Hey, Taylor." Lorelai looked toward the man sitting in the mechanical wheelchair and wearing furry socks and jelly sandals.

"Coming to the town meeting tonight?"

"I'll even drag Luke along."

"No, no. Don't do that. Please."

"Why not?"

"Have a nice day…a nice, nice day."

"Taylor, what?"

But he'd already headed to the prepared food aisle.

Rory opened the door to the video store. She missed this place these past few months. She missed everything in Stars Hollow - the crazy people, the weird stores, the insane historic aspects.

"Kirk, hi!" she said when she saw the infamous Kirk Gleason sitting at the counter with an Instyle Magazine; she wasn't the least bit surprised.

"Hey there, Rory."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. Kirk was a freak.

She thought about her mother's and her taste in movies and the classics she'd grown up with before walking to the Comedy section to pick up Duck Soup. Immediately, though, she would regret her decision.

There against the wall in the back of the giant Marx Brothers mural was Jess. He was sitting on the floor with a book at hand.

When Rory saw him, she slowly backed away. Jess however, beat her to it.

"I'm leaving", he murmured.

Déjà Vu.

**A/N: Short, I know. Chapter 10's going to be up later tonight, though, I promise. **

**Next up: Emily comes to Stars Hollow. **


	10. Emily

With Rory, things took longer to sink in then they might for the average person, but when they did, it wasn't easy.

The meet with Jess at the video store that was obviously destined by fate to occur eventually anyway was all it took.

Questions like "Why did I ignore Logan, the guy who actually wants to be with me, even though I don't want to be with him? Isn't it more important for the guy to actually like you?" filled her head. She put these thoughts aside, though as she walked home, videos at hand, in a huff. She couldn't cry. She couldn't act sad. She couldn't feel sorry for herself because Lorelai couldn't know about this. It would just screw up their relationship again. That's what made this even harder.

Lorelai met Rory at the door. She had her "bad news" face on.

"What is it?" Rory asked.

"What is what?"

"Mom, come on."

"Huh?"

"You have something to tell me."

"Well…yeah."

"Why, I must be some sort of genius. So, like I said, what is it?"

"Someone's here to see you."

Rory's heart pounded. Could it be Jess? Who else would her mom make such a big deal out of? But Lorelai didn't know…right?

"Who?" she asked, nervous.

"Satan."

Rory went over the list in her head. Who might Lorelai Gilmore refer to as Satan? Let's see…there was Jess, probably Logan, Michel on occasion, Richard, and oh no…Emily.

She looked up from the spot she's chosen to stare at on the ground when she heard the front door open. Her grandmother stood on the porch with an angry, disapproving look glued to her face - so what else was new?

Emily glared at Rory, but spoke to Lorelai.

"Lorelai, you have one the most abominable daughters. Do you know what she did?"

"I don't want to know, Mom."

"Rory and that horrific thug, Jess, broke into my house and ran off together!"

"How could she break in if she was already living there?"

"That's hardly the point, Lorelai!" Emily shrieked.

"It's not?"

"She lied, she snuck a complete stranger into my house, and she destroyed my living room!"

"What?"

"The entire left wall in my living room needs to be rebuilt thanks to your daughter crashing through it!"

"Through it?"

"How could you raise your daughter like that? You must be ashamed of yourself!"

"You need to get out."

"What?"

"Now, Mom! Go!"

Emily stood still as a statue with her nose pointed 180 degrees in the air.

"No."

"Yes! This is my house, Mom, and when I ask you to leave, you leave."

"I didn't hear you ask, I heard you demand."

"I'll use physical force if I have to!"

Emily positioned her eyes so they were at the same angle as Lorelai's and Rory's faces.

"Like mother, like daughter", she said.

She was just about out the door when Rory screamed "What's that supposed to mean?"

The front door slammed and Rory looked at Lorelai, who returned her painful side-glance.

"You crashed through her living room?" Lorelai asked.

Rory sighed.

**A/N: Please review! Chapter 11 will be up ASAP! **

**Next up: The whole Jess/Rory is revealed to Lorelai when the awkwardness continues. Plus, Luke and Lorelai have got a secret. **


	11. Salad

**A/N: Alright, this chapter is where I start to make Lorelai and Luke slightly more important characters. It's kind of an odd chapter, but it'll make more sense in chapter 12. Thanks for the reviews!**

Luke turned the doorknob to the right. It had always gone to the left before, but now it had suddenly changed. As her made the mental note the buy a new doorknob that twists to the left, he kicked the door the rest of the way open because of the pile of groceries he was holding.

"Jess! I brought back some stuff!" he called through the apartment. "Do you like oatmeal? I don't remember!"

Silence.

"Jess?"

He knew Jess was here. It was 35 degrees outside and his jacket was thrown carelessly on the couch as usual.

"Jess, answer me! You're scaring me, here!"

Luke stopped short when he walked past the bathroom.

A noise crept out of the space between the bottom of the door and the floor. Someone was in there, a stranger. It couldn't have been Jess. The sound coming from inside was sniffles and every few seconds a tiny moan or scream. Jess didn't cry. He didn't scream or moan or sniffle.

"Lorelai?" It was his only guess. "That you?"

The sniffles stopped. Suddenly there was a loud bang.

Luke twisted the doorknob to the left, but this one, too, was broken. Before he could turn It to the right, the person inside locked it.

"Hey!" Luke yelled. "No one locks me out of my own bathroom!"

The voice from inside yelled back, "A sentence I never thought I'd hear you utter."

"Jess?"

Footsteps…and then a clicking sound. The door suddenly flung itself open.

"Jess what's going on?"

"Nothing." He pushed passed Luke and walked straight towards the door.

"But wait!"

"I'm leaving."

"Hey, do you like oatmeal?"

Hours later, Lorelai and Rory were feeling famished. Naturally, the only thing they could think to do was go to Luke's, since they'd been eating poptarts, popcorn, and mallomars for the past two days.

Luke was hard at work going from table to table when they walked in. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Lorelai and Rory took a seat at the Mafia table, where they had the best chance of being served before closing; the place was packed!

"What do you want?" Luke asked when he finally came to their table.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", Lorelai responded.

"I don't have time for this."

"I'll have a burger and fries", Rory chimed in.

"Making it easy." He glanced at Lorelai. "That won't last long."

"I'll have the same as her with a salad on the side," Lorelai said.

"Whoa." Rory's eyes widened.

"What?"

"You just asked for a salad."

"So?"

"French or Ranch?" Luke asked.

"Russian, please."

When Luke left, Rory leaned in closer to Lorelai, so Luke wouldn't hear her whispering.

"What was that about?"

"The salad? Are you kidding me? I can't eat healthy?"

"You can, you just don't!"

"Can we drop this?"

"Dropping it."

"Luke arrived back at the table with two coffee cups."

"You didn't order coffee, so I just assumed-"

"You know us too well", Lorelai said as she pointed inside of the cup Luke had set down in front of her.

As he poured, Lorelai spoke softly. "How's life going, Luke?"

"Good."

"Any complaints?"

"Should I narrow my list down to the top 150 or do you want everything?"

"So you're good?"

"I'm good."

"You seem a little distracted", Rory said.

"Nope, it's just…"

"What?"

"Life."

"You said life was good", Lorelai pressured.

"It is!"

"Then why so grumpy?"

"Work. There's so much to do."

"Well, where's Lane?"

"She took the day off to go look at cars."

"Okay…and where's Caesar?"

"Oh, I fired Caesar."

"WHAT?" Lorelai shrieked.

"Geez, you made me spill!"

"Why would you fire Caesar?" Rory asked.

"He was eating out of the pie plate!"

"So? He always eats out of the pie plate."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh…I mean, I always eat out of your pie plate, not Caesar!"

"You do?"

"No!"

"I'm going to get your burgers." He paused…"And your salad."

Lorelai winked an awkward wink and Luke winked back.

Rory watched this, curious at what was going on that she didn't know about. She didn't have much time to think about it, though, because the door opened suddenly and Jess walked in…more like ran in, when he saw Rory.

"Luke! I'm going upstairs."

"Whoa! Did you know he was staying in Stars Hollow?" Lorelai asked seconds later.

"Oh, um, no."

"Oh my God! This is big! I can't believe Luke didn't tell us!"

"I'll meet you at home."

"Rory?"

"See you in a few minutes?"

"Oh right. Okay, see you in a few minutes."

Rory, almost knocking over the table, left on her way home.

Lorelai stared at Luke, who was trying to fix the toaster (again) behind the counter. He noticed her staring and winked again, smiling. She could only stare back sadly.

**A/N: Please review! **

**Next up: Lorelai and Rory talk and secrets as well as true feelings are revealed. **


	12. Talk

**A/N: Sorry the last chapter was confusing. I'm putting this one up so soon to clarify as much as possible. I should've submitted them as one chapter, but it's too late. Hope this helps…**

"You got home fast", Lorelai said as she walked inside the living room, where Rory was watching repeats of Dancing with the Stars.

"Wow, I hate this how. I mean, who cares if they're ex-celebrities? I say it's a communist plot to get parents to love it and want their kids to start ballroom dancing so they can make _Mad Hot Ballroom 2_", Lorelai rambled.

"Because communists don't have anything better to do?" Rory asked.

"Exactly!" Lorelai plopped down on her fabric wooden block couch, next to Rory. "So…you want to tell me what happened back there?"

"Back where?"

"Luke's."

"What about you? Anything you want to tell me?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're pregnant."

Lorelai let out the deep breath she'd taken quite a few seconds back. "How'd you know?" she asked.

Rory gave her a look that suggested that her mother's question was one of the most ridiculous things she'd ever heard.

"The salad?" Lorelai asked.

"And the pregnancy test results I found on the kitchen table."

"Oh, right. I wanted to put it in a scrapbook or a memory box or something, but then I realized I don't own one or anything resembling something sort of like one, so I put it on the kitchen table until I bought one."

"Which would be…never?"

"Right!"

"So, you're having a baby!"

"That's great!"

"It is! I know! It's so exciting!" Lorelai grinned.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I haven't gone to the doctor yet and I wanted to be sure."

"That makes sense."

"So, you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad."

"But you're sad."

"Why would I be sad? I'm happy! I'm happy for you! I'm going to have a sister or a brother!"

"You're upset about something."

"No."

"Something about Jess…"

"Well, sort of."

"Sort of?"

Rory sighed. It didn't look like there was any way she could get out of this one. "He took me home after we had dinner with Logan, which turned out to be a disaster. And then he came upstairs and we…"

"Wow, well, okay. Is that why?"

"That's not even half of it."

"Wow."

"So, then Grandma hears us and she knows Jess is there and Jess hides in the closet."

"That tiny thing? How'd he fit?"

"He crawled through the secret passageways."

"Gotta give him brownie points on that move."

"But then Grandma and Grandpa had cops investigating the house looking for Jess because they found his driver's license in his car."

"Sounds like something you'd read in a really bad tabloid."

"And then when I went to help him get out of the closet-"

"Dirty!"

"I don't know about that. Anyway, he wasn't there! So I went through the passageways to find him and by the time I could get out, they were arresting Jess!"

"Then why the hell is he HERE?"

"We escaped together and we went to Georgia."

"Oh my God!"

"And then we had the most horrible fight of my life and now I'm back here."

"I feel like I should applaud."

"Please don't."

"But what about Logan?"

"What about him?"

"You guys aren't together anymore?"

"Obviously not."

"It's not that obvious. If he doesn't know you broke up, then you cheated."

"What?"

"It's in all those stupid teen magazines, Rory."

"I did not cheat on Logan!"

"Okay, I don't want to fight."

"He knew."

"Let's just go to bed. Maybe you can clear you head."

Rory glared at her mother.

"I have a really bad habit of rhyming at the most inappropriate times."

"Yep."

"Night, Mom."

"Good night, kid."

**A/N: Kind of boring, I know. It basically summed up the first few chapters, but I threw in some comments from Lorelai to lighten the mood and then something at the end for Rory to ponder that might make a difference later on. **

**Next up: Rory and Jess have an open, serious talk. **


	13. School

**A/N: I'm so sorry! I'm horrible! I didn't forget about this story, though. In fact, I had the chance to write a lot more chapters. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes it up to you. **

Lorelai strolled out of her room and down the stairs at noon on Saturday to the wonderful scent of wonderful coffee. She walked into the kitchen where Rory had been working since 9 AM.

"Good morning", Rory said smiling.

"Freak", Lorelai replied grumpily.

"Thank you."

"So, you want to know what I'm doing?"

"Coffee."

Rory handed her the pot.

"I just woke up!" Lorelai said.

"Ah, right sorry." Rory grabbed the pot back and poured the coffee into Lorelai's cup.

"So…what are you doing?" Lorelai asked, now almost as radiant as Rory after just a sip.

"I'm picking my courses!"

"For?"

"Harford Community College."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay out of school a while longer and get your social life back together before you choose between an Ivy League University and a school that doesn't even have a lawn?"

"It's just temporary. I have to think about things. I don't want to go back to Yale to see Logan and I don't want to stay in the house all day because I'm afraid of going out and seeing Jess!"

"What about trying to talk to Jess?"

"Rory was silent for a few moments. "I didn't think of that", she said. "Mom, you're a genius!"

"Yes, well, that's my reputation."

"I'll be back!" she flew out of the room.

"Wait! I need a refill!" Lorelai called after her.

An out of break Rory arrived at the diner no sooner than she'd left her house.

"Luke", she yelled. "Where's Jess?"

Luke was serving an elderly couple and suddenly the man's coffee was on his shirt.

"Geez, you made me spill! You and your mother are going to put this diner out of business, I swear!"

"Sorry!" Rory blushed.

"Jess is upstairs."

"Thanks."

She ran up the stairs and her feet clomped so hard, they couple be heard from behind the counter in the diner.

The door was open, so she walked in. "Jess? Jess!"

Jess emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel. His hair was soaked.

"Rory, hi."

"I'm sorry. I'm didn't mean to come in at such-"

"It's fine."

"Can we talk?"

"I should probably change first."

"Oh, yes, you…you go change. Good idea."

"When Jess came out, Rory was staring at her shoes.

"You wanted to talk."

"Right, yes, let's talk."

He sat down on the couch next to Rory. "What about?"

"What do you think?"

"I can't read your mind."

"About us."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"S-sorry I freaked out."

"No, I'm sorry I freaked out."

"You didn't freak out."

"Yes I did."

"But you didn't freak out as much as I freaked out and I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have freaked out."

"It's okay."

"Yeah, it is."

"I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"School. Going back to school."

"Oh, okay."

"But I don't want to leave you."

"I just don't want you to, okay? I know this sounds selfish, but I don't want you too put school over us."

"Wow, um-"

"It's just that I was really hurt before. I thought we got together because you needed a reprieve from your mom."

"I'm not that kind of girl."

Jess smiled. "So…school."

"I want to go back to Yale."

"Oh."

"But I can't. Logan."

"You shouldn't throw that away because of him."

"You don't understand. He'll manipulate me. He'll trick me into coming back to him. It's just something he'd do."

"Then what?"

"Thinking about transferring to Harvard."

"But that's even farther away!"

"I was thinking you could come with me."

Jess was shaking his head, so Rory's heart was about to shatter, but before it had the chance, Jess surprised her.

I guess we could get an apartment in Boston."

"Really?" Rory shrieked.

"As long as you promise your voice will never go that high up again!" Jess laughed, covering his ears.

**A/N: So, the writing is so-so, but understand that things are supposed to be awkward for Rory and Jess just for a little while. That's why this was so out of nowhere. **

**Next up: Rory's having trouble telling Lorelai her plans. **


	14. Cookies

Rory and Jess ambled down the stairs slowly and carefully so that Jess's giant suitcase wouldn't kill anyone.

Luke looked up when he saw the two coming from upstairs.

"Everything okay?"he whispered to Jess.

"Yes", Jess replied at a normal volume.

"And don't whisper in my ear."

"Fine. Where are you going?"

Rory responded, quite loudly, "To Boston!" She looked at Jess. "Sorry."

"What?" Luke asked.

"We're going to live in Boston. I'll send a postcard," Jess smugly replied.

Rory grinned and they made their way to her house to get her stuff together.

As they approached her front yard, Rory began to worry that Lorelai might be unhappy. Harvard had been her dream just as much as Rory's before Yale. It would be an adjustment, though.

"Mom, are you home?"

"Kitchen!" Lorelai shouted.

Rory and Jess walked through the living room and into a dough-covered kitchen. The walls were plastered with cookie mix. The whole room smelled like a gingerbread house.

"What are you doing in the kitchen?" Rory said, panic in her voice.

"I love how that's your first question. Oh, hey Jess", Lorelai said as if it was no big deal that Jess Mariano was hiding behind Rory.

"Hey", he said nervously.

"Don't tell me you were trying to make cookies!" Rory said.

"High-pitched voice" grumbled Jess.

"No, I was making hamburgers. That's why there's empty boxes of cookie mix on the floor."

"You know you can't cook!"

"But this wasn't cooking! It was baking!"

"You don't bake either!"

Lorelai switched over into pout mode. "Why do I mess up the easiest things?"

Rory muttered, "Geez, the pregnancy's taking effect already."

"It's baking! I want cookies."

"We can go to Doose's and get you cookies!"

"Okay."

"I'll be back. Let's go, Jess."

He raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and followed Rory. Why didn't you tell her?" he asked on the way to Doose's.

"You never ever tell Lorelai Gilmore anything when she's upset to begin with."

"But we have to leave tonight!"

"We will, I promise."

Taylor was stocking bread when they entered the market.

"Rory!" he said with a cheerful smile. "You're home from school?"

"Oh, uh…yeah."

Taylor noticed Jess behind Rory.

"Oh no", he said. "You aren't back together, are you?"

Before Jess could punch Taylor, the Doose's Market bells jingled, indicating someone had entered the store.

"Excuse me", Taylor said, and he was off.

Rory smiled weakly at Jess and he sighed.

They headed back to the Gilmore house, but when they got to the driveway, they noticed Lorelai's car wasn't under the tree.

Inside, there was no sign of Lorelai either. Rory looked everywhere for her, but she wasn't in the house. When she went to the phone to try her mother's cell, she noticed the answering machine flashing and pressed the button to listen to the messages.

"Hey, Hon, it's me. I just left for Hartford. Long story but the call came the second you left and your cell was off. I'll talk to you when I get back", Lorelai's voice boomed through the house.

Jess eyed her…"Rory!"

"I know, I know!"

"So…?"

"Go home. I'll figure something out and I'll meet you in front of the bus stop at 6."

"Fine."

He left Rory, her mien a puzzled and worried shade of puce.

Bye 5:50, Lorelai still wasn't back from Hartford. Now HER cell phone was the one that was off, so they couldn't get in touch. By 5:55, Rory had packed another giant suitcase. By 5:59, she was gone.

**A/N: Short, I know. I tried to add a few more details because I know I'm one for lots and lots of dialogue. I didn't do too good of a job, since this was already written for a month, but I'll aim higher in the coming chapters, which should be up this weekend. Please review!**

**Next up: Rory and Jess are headed to Boston. **


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